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AGU: Journal of Geophysical Research, Space Physics

 

Keywords

  • ion outflow
  • modeling
  • storms

Index Terms

  • Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetic storms and substorms
  • Ionosphere: Ionosphere/magnetosphere interactions
  • Ionosphere: Modeling and forecasting
  • Ionosphere: Polar cap ionosphere
Abstract
Cited By (1)
 

Abstract

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 111, A12314, 14 PP., 2006
doi:10.1029/2006JA011662

A three-dimensional model of the generalized polar wind

Abdallah R. Barakat

Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA

Robert W. Schunk

Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA

The dynamic behavior of the “generalized” polar wind is investigated using a three-dimensional (3-D) dynamic model. The model is composed of two components. The high-altitude component is based on a macroscopic particle-in-cell (mac-PIC) approach that extends from an altitude of 1200 km to several Earth radii. The lower boundary conditions of the mac-PIC model are provided by a 3-D fluid-like model (low-altitude component) that extends down to 100 km in altitude. With the coupled model, the relevant equations are solved along magnetic flux tubes that convect across the high-latitude region. A large number (∼1000) of plasma flux tubes are followed. The total number of simulation particles in the mac-PIC component is 108–109. The generalized polar wind is simulated for an idealized geomagnetic storm, with a time step of 2.5 s. The model properly accounts for many physical mechanisms such as ion-ion collisions, wave-particle interactions, magnetospheric energetic electrons, and low-altitude ion energization. The computing-intensive nature of the model requires utilization of supercomputers with thousands of processors. A 3-D picture is assembled from the temporal evolution of the individual flux tubes by keeping track of their locations. The resulting 3-D dynamic picture is investigated with special emphasis on the difference between the behaviors of the O+ and H+ ions. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) during the storm maximum phase, O+ may remain dominant for altitudes up to several Earth radii; (2) the O+-to-H+ density (n O+ /n H+ ), velocity (U O+ /U H+ ), and flux (F O+ /F H+ ) ratios tend to be greatly enhanced during the storm with time delays of 0.5 to 1 hour; (3) the O+ downward flow tends to occur in the subauroral region and the dawnside of the polar cap; and (4) the O+ downward flux in the polar cap tends to occur below 1 R E altitude and during the storm decay phase.

Received 6 February 2006; accepted 12 September 2006; published 20 December 2006.

Citation: Barakat, A. R., and R. W. Schunk (2006), A three-dimensional model of the generalized polar wind, J. Geophys. Res., 111, A12314, doi:10.1029/2006JA011662.

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